The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing back their 2018 first-round pick — safety Terrell Edmunds.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on September 9 that the Steelers signed Edmunds off the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. Edmunds played for the Steelers from 2018-23.
Pittsburgh drafted Edmunds at No. 28 overall in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.
To sign Edmunds off the Jaguars practice squad, the Steelers have to add the safety to their active roster. The Steelers have open roster space after placing rookie defensive lineman Logan Lee and punter Cameron Johnston on injured reserve the past couple days.
Under NFL rules, Edmunds has guaranteed pay and a roster spot with the Steelers for at least three weeks, per Steelers Depot’s Ross McCorkle.
This is Edmunds’ seventh NFL season. He has posted 458 combined tackles, including 17 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and 6 interceptions in 96 career games. He has started 79 contests in his career, 75 of which came with the Steelers.
Steelers Reunited With Safety Terrell Edmunds
The timing of Pittsburgh’s reunion with Edmunds is interesting. The team had every opportunity to re-sign Edmunds during the 2023 offseason, but the Steelers went in new directions at safety.
Edmunds was available this past offseason as well, but the Steelers didn’t express any interest.
The veteran safety will now return to Pittsburgh, though, to provide depth in the back end of the secondary.
In five seasons with the Steelers, Edmunds registered 410 combined tackles, including 15 tackles for loss. He also had 5 sacks and 5 interceptions.
He started at least 12 games in all five of his campaigns in black and gold. He had 105 combined tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 quarterback hits and 3 pass defenses in 2019, which was his best statistical season.
Over the past two seasons, he played 17 games for the Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tennessee Titans. He started three games for the Eagles in 2023 before the team traded him to the Titans.
Edmunds appeared in Jacksonville’s season opener on September 8 as a practice squad elevation. He didn’t record a statistic while playing six defensive snaps.
Steelers Safety Depth Heading Into Week 2
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in his postgame press conference that cornerbacks Donte Jackson and Joey Porter Jr. each exited Week 1 with injuries. But both players returned to the game. Fellow cornerback Cory Trice Jr. underwent evaluation for a concussion after the contest.
But the Steelers didn’t sustain any notable injuries at safety. The team appears to just be adding Edmunds as extra depth.
With Edmunds, the Steelers will have as much safety depth as they’ve had in quite some time. Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott are the team’s starting safeties while Damontae Kazee is the defense’s versatile No. 3 safety as he was last year.
Edmunds will provide depth to the unit along with Miles Killebrew. However, Killebrew focuses more on special teams than defense.
The Steelers likely have a plan for Edmunds, but it’s not clear what that may be. Fitzpatrick played every defensive snap for the Steelers in Week 1 while Elliott lined up for about 84% of the team’s snaps on defense.
Kazee played 13 defensive snaps against the Falcons.
McCorkle proposed the possibility that Edmunds could play in the slot. The Steelers have undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop manning that spot right now with veteran Cameron Sutton serving an eight-game suspension.
